The impact of Theia collision may have also given rise to plate tectonics, the engine driving Earth's motion and surface changes every 200 million years.
Qian Yuan and team suggest the Theia collision produced the heat needed in Earth's early days to initiate plate tectonics, with magma plumes weakening the crust.
Dr. Yuan's research posits that continent-sized blobs near Earth's core, remnants of Theia, generate heat fueling the tectonics-driving plumes and plate movements.
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